I was listening the other day to a message given by a teaching pastor that I respect. He was teaching on baptism, specifically whether or not aspiring members needed to share the official doctrinal stance of the church before being accepted as members. Rather than addressing that question directly, he decided to take a round-about [...]
Entries Tagged as 'culture'
Lots of People in Hell Have Perfect Doctrine
September 26th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Tags: God · church · culture · doctrine · hell · love · marriage · preaching/teaching · relationships
Truth Be Told, I am Scared to Death to Live in the Suburbs
July 12th, 2008 · 6 Comments
Update: Just after I posted this, I happened to come across a few relevant posts on this subject. Be sure to check out David Fitch’s - “The Middle In: The Unique Missional Opportunity,” and Joe Thorn’s, “I Love the Suburbs” on a brand new blog about the gospel in the suburban context, SubText.
I hear people [...]
Tags: consumerism · culture · decisions · individualism · living hope · memphis · spiritual formation · suburban · urban
What is Missional?
June 23rd, 2008 · 10 Comments
This blog post is part of a SynchroBlog - below you will see the names of about 50 folks who are all posting today on the question, “What is Missional?” This is an effort launched by Rick Meigs to try and help people get a handle on where others are coming from when they [...]
Tags: christendom · church · community · culture · gospel · missional · spiritual formation · theology
Chicago and Seeding Missional Communities
January 7th, 2008 · 7 Comments
I got to spend this past weekend in Chicago. I was there for a few reasons. I got to visit my cousin Gwen and her fiance Rob - here’s us in the Bean at Millennium park.
(more Chicago pics here)
I was attending a mini-seminar on “Seeding Missional Communities” with David Fitch and others at Life [...]
Tags: christendom · church · community · culture · leadership · preaching/teaching · spiritual formation
Suburban Discontent/Suburban Oppression
November 15th, 2007 · 1 Comment
My friend Todd Hiestand recently posted, A Holy (Suburban) Discontent. It is partly a review of Tim Keel’s, Intuitive Leadership, and partly a reflection on the trappings of the suburban life style - something I have been feeling all too painfully since moving back from LA.
One of the most ironic parts of the post [...]
Tags: articles · church · community · culture · midwest · spiritual formation · suburban · youth · youth ministry
Walter Brueggemann’s 19 Theses
November 9th, 2007 · No Comments
This is a bit old by now, but I am just running across it. Taken from the 2004 Emergent Theolgical Conversation, these are 19 theses from Dr. Walter Brueggemann which, in concise fashion, sum up the grand scope of the “cultural problem” for the church in the United States. These 19 theses, especially number 12, [...]
Tags: consumerism · culture · modernity · narrative theology · theology · western culture
The Church and Cultural Relevance
November 1st, 2007 · No Comments
My friend Wess has posted an introductory piece on his blog entitled, “Church in Mission: The Problem with Being Relevant.” He shares some initial background to the topic and is planning on offering a few more posts on the topic. Though I am jealous that he beat me to it :), if you’re interested in [...]
Tags: blogging · capitalism · culture
A Great Beginning, but…
October 18th, 2007 · 1 Comment
I came across this blog post today entitled, “Willow Creek Repents?” and I was immediately reminded of something I wrote a while back where I said that one characteristic of missional churches is their willingness to repent for the things they have said and done which they come to realize were off the mark. [...]
Tags: Jesus · christendom · church · community · consumerism · culture · individualism · kingdom · missional · spiritual formation · theology
Emerging From What?
August 1st, 2007 · 7 Comments
I have been going crazy trying to figure out how to write a post in response to all the great conversation that was going on in the comments of this last post. Thanks Josh and Andy for having such a thoughtful and even-handed discussion. I was going crazy because I was trying to [...]
Tags: christendom · church · colonialism · community · culture · emerging · modernity · postmodernity · western culture
The Theology of Linkin Park
July 19th, 2007 · 2 Comments
I don’t know a ton about Linkin Park, but they are a band whose name keeps coming up in various spheres of my life. I know my brother Adam is a fan and the other day my friend JR (that’s right, “there are 2 of them,” [SB]!) was showing me one of their videos on his oh [...]
Tags: culture · postmodernity · songs · theology · video · youth





